1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to tool holder adapters and, more particularly, to setting mechanisms for settable tool holder adapters. The present invention further relates to tool holder adapters having such setting mechanisms.
2. Background Information
In the case of settable tool holder adapters, the tool is, in particular, a tool for precision machining of drilled holes, in particular by means of a reaming tool. For high accuracy in machining, the tool holder adapter can be set very precisely, such that its center axis coincides, within very narrow tolerances, with the center axis of a receiver assigned to the tool holder adapter. For this purpose a setting mechanism, inter alia, is provided, by means of which the tool holder adapter can be tilted relative to a receiver. As a result, the center axis of the tool holder adapter can be aligned parallel to the center axis of the receiver. Additionally provided is a radial adjusting mechanism, of no further relevance in the scope of the present invention, by which the position of the tool holder adapter relative to the receiver can be set in the radial direction. As a rough simplification, the setting mechanism and the adjusting mechanism can be considered together as a type of joint, by which the tool holder adapter is coupled to the receiver. The adjusting mechanism ensures that the joint is located at the correct position, i.e. with its center axis on the center axis of the receiver, and the setting mechanism ensures that the center axis of the tool holder adapter runs in the extension of the center axis of the receiver.
In the prior art, the setting mechanism is in each case constituted by a setting screw, of which there are four provided on a collar of the tool holder adapter. Provided in the collar there is a thread, into which the setting screws are screwed, such that their end that faces away from the screw head extends through the collar. There, each setting screw bears on a mating surface of the receiver. Appropriate setting of the four setting screws enables the angular position of the tool holder adapter to be set relative to the receiver. The setting screws in this case act in the manner of settable spacers.
There is however, room for improvement in such tool holder adaptors, such as, for example, in setting mechanisms that enable more precise setting of the tool.